US Air Forces Africa Briefing with General Margaret Woodward

By Adrienne Chuck

The Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center hosted Major General Margaret H. Woodward, Commander of the 17th Air Force and US Air Forces Africa, for a briefing on her command’s core priorities and future concerns in the continent.

In an ensuing discussion over lunch moderated by J. Peter Pham, director of the Ansari Center, an invited group of Africa experts from policy institutes, universities, and the private sector analyzed the increasingly trans-boundary and multifaceted nature of African conflicts and the implications it has on the US military’s approach toward security issues in Africa, focusing especially on terrorist threats and other challenges in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel. General Woodward also discussed US Africa Command (AFRICOM) efforts to developing the air force capabilities of African partner states as well as AFRICOM’s prospects amid the current fiscal austerity.